Wednesday, February 21
West Point, N.Y.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
11-15,8-7Patriot
85
at
54
Army
10-18,6-9Patriot
1
2
F
Lehigh
40
45
85
Army West Point
16
38
54
Photo by: Clark Boinis
Lehigh Rolls Past Army 85-54 For Fourth-Straight Victory
2/21/2024 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Lehigh men's basketball pulled off its fourth consecutive Patriot League victory by way of a dominant 85-54 win on the road against the Army West Point Black Knights on Wednesday night. Lehigh led by as many as 47 in what was a near perfect game for the Mountain Hawks.
"It was a really impressive performance, I thought our defense was really locked in," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "When you have that type of defensive presence, it opens up things in transition… We took command of the game with [Keith and Tyler] running along and flanking [Cam Gillus] who once again took care of the ball and played good defense."
The win for Lehigh (11-15, 8-7 PL) snapped a three-game skid to Army West Point (10-18, 6-9 PL) which included a 68-57 home loss on February 7. It was Lehigh's first 30+ point Patriot League victory since defeating Bucknell 97-64 back in January of 2022. The Mountain Hawks, now sitting in third place in the Patriot League, have gone over the .500 mark in league play for the first time this season.
Despite posting 80+ points for the seventh time on the year, Lehigh was not firing on all cylinders out of the gate. The Mountain Hawks shot 1-8 from the floor over the course of the first five minutes of gameplay, with the Black Knights not far behind with a 1-7 mark from the field in that stretch.
After Dominic Parolin broke the 2-2 tie with a pair of free throws with 14:49 on the clock, Lehigh became a different team on offense. The Mountain Hawks shot 77.7% from the field the rest of the half, including 4-5 from three. Whether it was a Tyler Whitney-Sidney drive inside or a Keith Higgins Jr. triple, everything seemed to be going right for Lehigh. On the other side of the ball, the Mountain Hawks continued to play stringent defense, forcing unfavorable shots for the Black Knights while cleaning up on the boards. When the buzzer sounded at halftime, a stunned crowd in Christl Arena watched their team head into the locker room trailing 40-16.
The Mountain Hawks did not step their foot off the gas pedal to begin the second stanza, shooting an absurd 91.6% (11-12) from the field through the first twelve minutes of the half. While Lehigh continued to display an excellent efficiency from the floor, much of their damage came at the free throw line in the second. The team shot 11-11 from the line in the final twenty minutes to finish a perfect 17-17 on the game. The Mountain Hawks led by 47 points with under five minutes to play in the game, but a late 16-0 stretch from the Black Knights cut their deficit to 31 at the final buzzer.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 56.6% (30-53) and 44.4% (8-18) from distance on the night as opposed to Army West Point's 36.7% (22-60) and 24% (6-25) from three. The Mountain Hawks outrebounded the Black Knights 36-27, outscored them in the paint 40-28 and dished out 21 assists, the team's highest total against a Division-I opponent this season.
All 16 players recorded minutes in what was a total team effort in the win. Leading the charge was Whitney-Sidney, who finished with a game-high 22 points in his first start after coming off the bench in Lehigh's two previous contests.
"[Tyler] played so hard in our last game, made big defensive plays for us and finished at the free throw line," said Reed. "For him to be able to go out and knock down shots… [Tyler and Keith] were really fun to watch."
Registering his second double-double of the season was Parolin, who put up 18 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes of action. The big man has now scored 10+ points in seven of his last nine outings.
The two other Mountain Hawks in double figures were Higgins and Burke Chebuhar, who tallied 14 and 11 points respectively. Higgins was replaced by Whitney-Sidney in Wednesday's starting lineup but still produced at a high level off the bench, shooting 4-5 from the field in the win.
"We missed Keith for a long period of time," said Reed. "He's a terrific player… It was nice to see Keith out there getting back into his rhythm. We've seen some spots of that, but today he was a confident, happy and competitive kid who was playing off the energy of everyone around him and adding to it, which was terrific to see."
Lehigh's first-year guards also made an impact on both sides of the floor in the win. Nasir Whitlock posted eight points on 3-4 shooting, including two three-pointers. Joshua Ingram scored two while grabbing six rebounds to go along with three assists and two blocks. Cam Gillus scored six points while dishing out a team-high four assists and recorded a steal.
The Mountain Hawks will make the quick trip over to Easton for this season's second installment of the Rivalry against Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 24 from the Kirby Sports Center.
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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"It was a really impressive performance, I thought our defense was really locked in," said head coach Dr. Brett Reed. "When you have that type of defensive presence, it opens up things in transition… We took command of the game with [Keith and Tyler] running along and flanking [Cam Gillus] who once again took care of the ball and played good defense."
The win for Lehigh (11-15, 8-7 PL) snapped a three-game skid to Army West Point (10-18, 6-9 PL) which included a 68-57 home loss on February 7. It was Lehigh's first 30+ point Patriot League victory since defeating Bucknell 97-64 back in January of 2022. The Mountain Hawks, now sitting in third place in the Patriot League, have gone over the .500 mark in league play for the first time this season.
Despite posting 80+ points for the seventh time on the year, Lehigh was not firing on all cylinders out of the gate. The Mountain Hawks shot 1-8 from the floor over the course of the first five minutes of gameplay, with the Black Knights not far behind with a 1-7 mark from the field in that stretch.
After Dominic Parolin broke the 2-2 tie with a pair of free throws with 14:49 on the clock, Lehigh became a different team on offense. The Mountain Hawks shot 77.7% from the field the rest of the half, including 4-5 from three. Whether it was a Tyler Whitney-Sidney drive inside or a Keith Higgins Jr. triple, everything seemed to be going right for Lehigh. On the other side of the ball, the Mountain Hawks continued to play stringent defense, forcing unfavorable shots for the Black Knights while cleaning up on the boards. When the buzzer sounded at halftime, a stunned crowd in Christl Arena watched their team head into the locker room trailing 40-16.
The Mountain Hawks did not step their foot off the gas pedal to begin the second stanza, shooting an absurd 91.6% (11-12) from the field through the first twelve minutes of the half. While Lehigh continued to display an excellent efficiency from the floor, much of their damage came at the free throw line in the second. The team shot 11-11 from the line in the final twenty minutes to finish a perfect 17-17 on the game. The Mountain Hawks led by 47 points with under five minutes to play in the game, but a late 16-0 stretch from the Black Knights cut their deficit to 31 at the final buzzer.
Lehigh finished the game shooting 56.6% (30-53) and 44.4% (8-18) from distance on the night as opposed to Army West Point's 36.7% (22-60) and 24% (6-25) from three. The Mountain Hawks outrebounded the Black Knights 36-27, outscored them in the paint 40-28 and dished out 21 assists, the team's highest total against a Division-I opponent this season.
All 16 players recorded minutes in what was a total team effort in the win. Leading the charge was Whitney-Sidney, who finished with a game-high 22 points in his first start after coming off the bench in Lehigh's two previous contests.
"[Tyler] played so hard in our last game, made big defensive plays for us and finished at the free throw line," said Reed. "For him to be able to go out and knock down shots… [Tyler and Keith] were really fun to watch."
Registering his second double-double of the season was Parolin, who put up 18 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes of action. The big man has now scored 10+ points in seven of his last nine outings.
The two other Mountain Hawks in double figures were Higgins and Burke Chebuhar, who tallied 14 and 11 points respectively. Higgins was replaced by Whitney-Sidney in Wednesday's starting lineup but still produced at a high level off the bench, shooting 4-5 from the field in the win.
"We missed Keith for a long period of time," said Reed. "He's a terrific player… It was nice to see Keith out there getting back into his rhythm. We've seen some spots of that, but today he was a confident, happy and competitive kid who was playing off the energy of everyone around him and adding to it, which was terrific to see."
Lehigh's first-year guards also made an impact on both sides of the floor in the win. Nasir Whitlock posted eight points on 3-4 shooting, including two three-pointers. Joshua Ingram scored two while grabbing six rebounds to go along with three assists and two blocks. Cam Gillus scored six points while dishing out a team-high four assists and recorded a steal.
The Mountain Hawks will make the quick trip over to Easton for this season's second installment of the Rivalry against Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 24 from the Kirby Sports Center.
Like Lehigh men's basketball on Facebook, follow on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Team Stats
Lehigh
ARM
FG%
.566
.367
3FG%
.444
.240
FT%
1.000
.500
RB
36
27
TO
9
9
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
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